Titanfall 2’s UK Launch Week Sales Lagged Behind Original Game’s

Proving analyst predictions right, Respawn Entertainment’s Titanfall 2 did not have a strong sales performance in its first week of availability in the UK. According to Chart Track, a UK media sales-monitoring firm that tracks sales of physical copies of games, Titanfall 2 was outsold by three other games and failed to match the top-selling debut of the original Titanfall in March of 2014.

The performance is particularly disappointing when considering that Titanfall 2 launched on PlayStation 4 in addition to Xbox One and PC, while the original Titanfall was only made available for PC and Xbox platforms.

Perhaps somewhat softening the blow is that Titanfall 2 released on a Friday, while its predecessor came out on a Tuesday, giving it a few extra days on the market to accumulate sales. As mentioned, Chart Track’s numbers also only include physical sales, so it’s not yet known if digital numbers helped the game make up any ground.

Beating out Respawn’s second effort were FIFA 17, The Elder Scrols V: Skyrim Special Edition, and Battlefield 1. The latter, like Titanfall 2, is an Electronic Arts-published first-person shooter. Both games received critical acclaim, with Titanfall 2 landing in the conversation for shooter of the year. Titanfall 2 was in its initial week of release, however, whereas Battlefield 1 was in its second week on the market.

Battlefield 1

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition

FIFA 17

Titanfall 2

Farming Simulator 17

Mafia 3

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2

Gears of War 4

Grand Theft Auto 5

Forza Horizon 3

Despite its apparent high level of quality, Titanfall 2’s failure to capture the top spot doesn’t come as a total surprise. Research firm Cowen & Company predicted last week that the mech game’s sales would be “substantially disappointing,” according to GameSpot. Cowen & Company cited poor release date timing as the main reason for its analysis, which it culled its previous nine millions units prediction back to five to six million.

“We think the game got squeezed between Battlefield 1 and [Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare],” the firm said. “We suspect EA believed that by launching two shooters next to Call of Duty it could put a large dent in its biggest competitor, but instead EA appears to have wound up shooting its own foot off.”

Battlefield 1 released on October 21, while Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare is scheduled for release on November 4. Titanfall 2 launched on October 28.